Marshall has been recognized by Lockheed Martin as the world’s first authorized Center of Excellence for center wing box replacements on the C-130 Hercules tactical airlifter. Leaders from Marshall and Lockheed Martin recently gathered to mark the achievement during the annual Hercules Orion Conference (HOC) in Atlanta, located near the C-130 production line in Marietta, Georgia.
Marshall has completed nearly 80 center wing box replacements since 2004 and remains the only organization to have performed these highly complex procedures on both legacy C-130 platforms and the current production model C-130J Super Hercules. Furthermore, no other organisations have successfully completed a C-130J center wing box replacement outside the United States.
“We are incredibly proud to have added yet another world-first to our C-130 engineering credentials,” said Bob Baxter, Marshall Chief growth officer. “This recognition from Lockheed Martin reinforces our position as an industry leader in non-standard repair and replacement, and demonstrates the strength of our capability enhancement offering.”
The purpose of a center wing box replacement is to extend the operational life of an aircraft. The center wing is a major primary structure of an aircraft, referred to as a “lifed article.”
The original center wings fitted during aircraft manufacture have a lifespan of approximately 19,000 hours. Installing a new enhanced service life center wing effectively re-lifes the aircraft, maintaining airworthiness and potentially extending its lifespan by decades.
Lockheed Martin supplies Marshall with service bulletins, bespoke tooling and kits with all of the parts and components required to perform the replacement on the aircraft. While the original center wing is removed, interfacing structures and main frames are thoroughly inspected and serviced before the enhanced service life center wing is installed and the internal wiring and plumbing is replaced.
“Recognizing Marshall as the first Lockheed Martin-approved Center of Excellence for its work leading the C-130 center wing box replacement program is a natural choice. Marshall is a vital part of the C-130 Hercules community because it embodies a commitment to excellence in C-130 maintenance and support, ensuring these versatile aircraft continue to serve operators reliably and efficiently in meeting global mission demands,” Rod McLean, vice president and general manager of the Air Mobility & Maritime Missions Line of Business at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics.
